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(No Model.)

B. A. BUSH.

FIRE ESCAPE.

No. 294,848. Patented Mar. 11, 1884.

g g iff r f 61237270]? I tach it from the said staples andfrom thelad--UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERT ALFRED BUSH, or BRooKvILLn, ONTARIO, CANADA.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

- SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 294,848, dated March11, 1884.

Application filed May 8, ices. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concernn Be it known that I, ROBERT ALFRED BUsH, asubject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at Brockville, in thecounty of Leeds and Province of Ontario, Dominion'of Canada, haveinvented a new and useful Fire-Escape, of which the following isaspecification, reference being had to the accompanying draw lugs.

This invention relates to that class of fireescapes in which a flexibleladder forms the means of exit or escape; and it consists in certainimprovements in the construction and arrangement of such fire-escapes,which will be hereinafter fully described, and particularly pointed outin the claims.

In the drawings hereto annexed, Figurel isder sides, at their innerends, which clampthe sill and brace and hold the device securely inposition. The rails A A are provided at their outer edges with flanges O0, having slots D D, which form hand-holes to assist in the descent whenthe escape is to be used. The

.upper edges of the flanges C have recesses E,

forming bearings for the trunnions F F of a reel, G. The front ends ofthe rails A A have perforated lugs H H, to which the flexible escape-ladder I is attached. The sides of the said ladder are preferablyconstructed of wire rope, and the rungs of iron bars or tubing. Thelower ends of the sides of the ladder are secured to staples J J, whichare attached 'loosely to the body of the reel G, so that the weight ofthe latter shall be sufficient to deder. The ladder is to be wound uponthe reel G, and the latter supported by its trunnions F in the bearingsE, above mentioned. When in this position, the escape is to be coveredby a detachable cabinet or easing, K.

The operation of my invention will be readily understood from theforegoing description, taken in connection with the drawings heretoannexed. In case of fire, orwhen it is desired to use the-escape, thecasing is to be mistakes are not liable to occur, as is the caseinfire-escapes where intricate mechanism has to be employed to unroll theescape-ladders.

Instead of securing the rails A to the sill of the window, they might besecured to the floor, or in any suitableconvenient position.

I claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of theUnited States- 1. In a fire-escape, the hereindescribed base-rails,adapted to be secured toa windowsill, and having hooks at their rearends clamping the edge of the sill, side flanges provided withhand-holes, and perforated lugs at their front ends, in combination witha fleXible escape-ladder secured to the said lugs, as set forth.

2. .The combination, with a flexible fire-escape ladder, of a reelsecured to the lower ends of the sides of said ladder by means ofstaples loosely connected to the said reel, so

that the said reel shall become detached byits .own weight when theladder is unrolled, substantially as set forth.

3. As an improvement in fire-escapes, the combination of a pair of railsadapted to be secured to a window-sill. and having side flanges providedwith hand-holes, and having recesses in their upper edges, formingbearings for a reel, a flexible ladder attached to the front ends ofsaid rails, and a reel at" tached to the lower ends of the sides of thesaid ladder by means of staples detachable from the said reel by theweight of the latter, the ladder being wound, from the bottom up, uponthe reel, and the latter supported by its trunnions in the bearings inthe upper edges of the flanges of the rails, substantially as set forth.

1 In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have-heretoaffixed my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ROBERT ALFRED BUSH.

XVitnesses:

WILLIAM J AMns' TRIGHT, J OHN ARTHUR REYNoLDs.

IOO

